HOW TO GET MORE REFERRALS

HOW TO GET MORE REFERRALS

Get all the slides & additional notes FernDogTraining.com/GroomExpo

HOW IMPACTFUL ARE REFERRALS? Grooming, much like dog training, is mostly a referral, word of mouth based business. Looking at how I get most of my business in my dog training business you can see that about 80% or more of the clients I get come from referrals (excuse my numbers, it looks like they equal 101% - you get the idea though). Referrals not only matter, they can drive your entire business.

2 MAIN SOURCES OF REFERRALS Your Existing Clients Other Businesses PLUS - One additional source There are 2 sources that you ll get most of your referral traffic from: your existing clients and other businesses in your area. You need to make sure you re doing everything you can to fan the flame of both of these. There is one additional source as well - more on that later.

Your Existing Clients WHY YOU NEED TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR CUSTOMERS On average, loyal customers are worth up to 10 times as much as their first purchase. (Source: White House Office of Consumer Affairs) 48% of customers who had a negative experience told 10 or more others. (Source: Harvard Business Review) 78% of customers have bailed on an intended transaction because of a poor experience. (Source: American Express) Making sure you re taking care of your customers and doing all that you can to give them an amazing experience should be your top priority. If your clients are thrilled with you and your service it can cause a huge ripple effect. However, a bad experience can do something similar but not in a good way.

SO, DO YOU WANT SATISFIED CUSTOMERS? NO! It s All About Raving Fans Satisfied customers are for average businesses. You don t want average. Average is just getting by. Average will not keep you in business long term. Average sucks. No, you want an extraordinary business. One that everyone talks about. One that will grow over time and that pays your bills and then some. You won t get an extraordinary business with satisfied customers. To do that you need to create raving fans.

THE POWER OF RAVING FANS Raving fans will go out and do all your marketing and promotion for you. They will spread the word about you and your business to everyone they meet and go out of their way to help you succeed. One of my raving fans went out of her way to eavesdrop a conversation in a Starbucks and give someone my card, telling her she needed to call me because I was the best. That incident has brought me so much business because that person in the coffee shop was opening a dog daycare. She did call me and she is one of my main referrals sources and brought me thousands of dollars in business. All because of one raving fan.

WHAT ARE RAVING FANS? Overjoyed with you and your grooming Would never consider hearing about a competitor Will go out of their way to spread the word about you BUT HOW DO YOU GET RAVING FANS? Raving fans are your biggest advocates. You don t have to tell them to refer you to their friends, they just do it on their own. They love you and your business and would never think of going to a competitor not matter what they offered or how low the price was.

Strive to deliver 5-10x value for what your customers pays you for. 1OVERDELIVER Extra products or services Additional unannounced bonuses Kick ass customer service Personal attention HOW YOU CAN CREATE RAVING FANS? You should always aim to give your customers 5 to 10 times more in value than the cost of your service. You want them to come away thinking they got so much more than what they paid for. They should feel like they owe you money. You want to really wow them. You can do this by giving them surprise bonuses, throw in extra services, lots of personal attention and having amazing, over the top customer service.

Be happy & positive 2 BE LIKEDAVE Make them feel special Genuinely care Be a good listener Work on your people skills (don t be a dog person ) Everyone gets VIP treatment HOW YOU CAN CREATE RAVING FANS? Back when I was a personal trainer I learned a lot from another trainer who worked at the same gym. He wasn t in great shape and was a pretty sub par trainer who never really pushed his clients physically. Even though he wasn t an amazing trainer he was always booked solid. Why? Because he knew how to work with people. Treat your clients like gold and they will stick with you no matter what. Be friendly to them and always make them feel like they are special to you. This shouldn t be an act, you should genuinely care. Even if you don t like them, you should still care about them. Be a good listener and work on your people skills (I highly recommend you read Dale Carnagie s book How To Win Friends and Influence People ). If you got into grooming because you re more of a dog person than a people person, you re in big trouble. People are your clients and they are the ones picking up the bill. Make sure all your customers feel like they are always getting the VIP treatment.

3 SURPRISETHEM As soon as possible (shock and awe) When clients disappear or typically fade Do something unique & talk worthy HOW YOU CAN CREATE RAVING FANS? A great way to create raving fans is to surprise them with something. As soon as you get a client, shock and awe them with some kind of extra that they aren t expecting. It s even more impactful if it s something unique or personal. I like to sometimes send them books we talked about or a gift that is related to their dog. Something that they will just have to tell their friends about. It s also good to do this when you haven t seen a client in a while to remind them how much you care and why they need to still do business with you.

4 GETPERSONAL Don t hide in the back - interact with your customers Share some of your personal life Become a friend HOW YOU CAN CREATE RAVING FANS? The best way to get your clients to like you is to interact with them on a friendly level. Don t just hide behind your grooming table, get out and spend some time with the humans and get to know them. Share stories, let them into a little of your personal life and build a relationship that goes beyond just business. If they also see you as a friend they will do anything for you.

5 SHOWCASECLIENTS Share pictures on social media Have a client of the week/month Highlight them in your shop or in a newsletter HOW YOU CAN CREATE RAVING FANS? People love attention - especially for their fur babies. Publicly spotlight your customers on social media and in print in your shop. They will love to tell their friends that their dog is on your Facebook page or in your lobby.

Little details make a big difference 6 BE LIKEDISNEY Go all out no matter what Create an experience worth talking about Help your customers with everything and anything (even unrelated stuff) PLUS everything HOW YOU CAN CREATE RAVING FANS? Nobody knows how to take care of customers like Disney. Look at what they do and try to incorporate it into your business. Here are some examples (check out my full article on the lessons I learned from my Disney trip at http://smallbizrocketship.com/11-business-lessons-from-my-walt-disney-world-vacation): Don t skimp on the details, no matter how trivial. Sometimes it s the little things that will be the most memorable. Treat every client like a celebrity and go all out on even the most simple treatments. Try to do more than just groom the pet - create and experience for them that will make them talk about it for weeks. Help your customers with anything and everything (for example, researching and finding a landscaper for them because they mentioned they were looking for one). Look at everything you dog and figure out how to PLUS it (make it even better).

YOUR FRONT DESK PERSON The most important person in your business Should be overpaid Customer services is THE most important thing Make everyone feel special Soup Nazi s don t work in the real world So many companies hire anyone to work the front desk and take phone calls but they are the most important person in your business. They are the first interaction that customers have and if it s not amazing, your business will suffer. Pay more than the norm for a receptionist and find someone who s friendly and loves people. If you re that person taking the calls and greeting people when the come in, make sure you re personable and try to always be upbeat and positive. No matter how good of a groomer you are, bad customer services will kill your business instantly.

Other Businesses A HUGE REFERRAL SOURCE About 50% of my business comes from referrals from other businesses Identify various dog related businesses in your area Go say hi and offer to refer THEM Find ways to help them out Take the time to build a long lasting relationship Find other businesses that serve your target clientele and build relationships with them. Good relationships take time and to do it right you can t think about how this company can help you but how you can help the other business. The more value you bring them, the more they will feel compelled to help you out.

WHAT OTHER BUSINESSES? Dog trainers Pet stores Dog daycares/boarding facilities Dog walkers/pet sitters Veterinarians Dog rescues/shelters Other groomers Make it a habit to reach out to the complimentary businesses in your area regularly. Not all of them will be receptive and you won t always click with them, but you should cultivate your relationship with those that you do feel a connection with.

BONUS SOURCE OF REFERRALS Anyone you talk to on or offline Give free advice The more value you provide, the more valuable you become. Answer questions online Provide useful content for free Another good source of referrals can be all the people you encounter both on and offline. Give advice freely and try to help as many people as you can, even if you know they will never become a client. You never know when one of the people you help out will know someone who would be a perfect client. You can get lots of referrals from people not even in your area. Give as much as you can and it will come back to you.

IT S TIME FOR ACTION! What will you do to create raving fans? What businesses will you start building relationships with? All the stuff we discussed is useless unless you do something about it. Don t wait - take some action now. You don t have to do it all, just start somewhere and do something now. Then add to it as you go along. As you do, you ll get some momentum going and before you know it you ll have a nice little referral engine working for you. Good luck!

THANKS SO MUCH Get all my slides plus additional notes at FernDogTraining.com/GroomExpo If you would like some personal help from me with all this business stuff, check out SmallBizRocketShip.com.